32/48 He is clever, generous, brave; but what is there to show for it? I don't know why, but I fancy he will have some great trouble--perhaps an unhappy end." "Oh, leave him to me," said Newman, jovially. "I will watch over him and keep harm away." One evening, in Madame de Bellegarde's salon, the conversation had flagged most sensibly. The marquis walked up and down in silence, like a sentinel at the door of some smooth-fronted citadel of the proprieties; his mother sat staring at the fire; young Madame de Bellegarde worked at an enormous band of tapestry. Usually there were three or four visitors, but on this occasion a violent storm sufficiently accounted for the absence of even the most devoted habitues. |